Jim Tressel

James Patrick Tressel (born December 5, 1952) is an American politician and retired college football coach who has served as the 67th lieutenant governor of Ohio since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, Tressel previously was the president of Youngstown State University from 2014 to 2023. Before entering higher education administration and public office, Tressel was the head football coach of the Youngstown State Penguins and later the Ohio State Buckeyes from 1986 to 2010. His teams won five national championships (four with YSU during the 1990s, and one with OSU in 2002), earning him multiple Coach of the Year accolades and induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015. Tressel was born in Painesville, Ohio and attended Baldwin–Wallace College, where he played football as quarterback under his father, Lee Tressel. He became Youngstown State's fourth head football coach in 1986 and remained there until 2000 before succeeding John Cooper as head coach at Ohio State in 2001. During his tenure as Ohio State's 22nd head football coach, Tressel's teams competed in three BCS National Championship Games and his 2002 squad won a national title, achieving the first 14–0 season record in major college football since the 1897 Penn Quakers. Tressel resigned from Ohio State in May 2011 amid an NCAA investigation into improper benefits involving players during the 2010 season, which resulted in the university vacating victories from that year, including the 2011 Sugar Bowl. He later served as a consultant for the Indianapolis Colts from 2011 to 2012 and as vice president of strategic engagement at the University of Akron from 2012 to 2014, before becoming president of Youngstown State University. On February 10, 2025, Governor Mike DeWine nominated Tressel as Ohio lieutenant governor; he was confirmed on February 12 and sworn in on February 14.